Ana set to take her time

Her US Open dream over, Ana will rest in order to fully recover from her shoulder injury. “I am going to take it easy. The most important thing is to get ready for the indoor season,” said Ana, who is scheduled to play her next competitive match in Luxembourg at the end of September.

She has been having constant physiotherapy on her left pectoral muscle injury, which she sustained in Toronto a fortnight ago. She was unable to train the day before her defeat to Maria Vento-Kabchi and instead received further treatment. The diagnosis is that the injury will take between one and four weeks to heal.

“I probably didn’t take enough rest,” admitted Ana. “Maybe I started too quickly again. At least if I give it time to heal 100% then wait before practising it will be better.”

Showing her maturity, Ana refused to be overly downcast about her second round defeat. Demonstrating why she is already one of the most popular players on the tour with the media, she was as engaging and smiley as always in her post-match press conference – in sharp contrast to many of her fellow professionals, who will often sulk after a loss.

“I learned a lot from that match,” Ana said. “Sometimes you have to lose to see the mistakes and to learn from them.”

Ana wasn’t sure if she would stay in New York to see Phantom of the Opera as planned. Reflecting on her preparations for the year’s final grand slam she said: “I worked really hard. I had some time off after Wimbledon then started [to prepare] in Toronto. Getting this injury was tough – you always want to be fully fit for a grand slam.

“It’s not easy but there are plenty of US Opens to come so I am looking forward to them.”